FLINT, MI -- The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that
a Flint teen can be extradited to Georgia to face juvenile delinquency charges for
allegedly molesting a four-year-old child while on vacation.

The court issued its opinion Tuesday, Oct. 15, after the
15-year-old boy appealed a Genesee Family Court decision to allow the
extradition. The boy is not being named because he is charged as a juvenile.

Court records show the then-12-year-old boy was on
vacation in the summer of 2010 visiting his godfather in Georgia when he
allegedly sexually assaulted the four-year-old.

The boy, who returned to his home in Michigan not long
after the alleged attack, was served with extradition paperwork in May 2012 and
his attorney, Terina Carte, said he has been in custody at the Genesee Valley
Regional Center for roughly a year as Carte appeals the decision to send him
back to Georgia.

The appeals court's ruling stated that the boy's case is
the first time the issue of juvenile delinquency extradition was presented in a
Michigan appeals court, meaning there is no Michigan case law for the court to
review on the issue.

"It's really a case of first impression," said Lisa
Halushka, who is a law professor and acting associate dean of Cooley Law School's
Auburn Hills campus.

Carte argued that Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, which
governs the extradition of suspects between states, applies only to adults and not juveniles charged with delinquent behavior.

"It's a sad day when we start extraditing juveniles for
delinquency," Carte said.

However, the appeals court disagreed, ruling that the act
does apply to juveniles charged with delinquent behavior even though the act does
not contain specific provisions relating to delinquency cases.

Halushka said there has been a continuing trend in
Michigan courts to standardize procedures, such as mental competency exams, in
juvenile delinquency cases to mirror their adult criminal court counterparts.
She said this case appears to be another step in this standardization movement.

"This is designed to ensure the prosecutor and juveniles
are treated fairly," Halushka said.

Carte argued that extraditing the boy to Georgia would be
cruel and unusual punishment since he would likely be held in custody and
removed from his family until the end of the Georgia delinquency proceedings.
She also claimed that his current detention at the GVRC is cruel because the Michigan
court is punishing the boy for a crime he is accused of in Georgia.

The appeals court shot down both arguments saying that
the concerns about potential detention in Georgia need to be addressed in
Georgia courts and that his current detention at the GVRC does not rise to the
level of a constitutional violation.

Carte also argued that the boy was not a fugitive from
justice since he left Georgia when his vacation was over and that the documents
used to obtain the governor's warrant for the extradition were inaccurate
because they listed the boy as a Georgia resident. The appeals court disagreed
with both arguments.

The boy has faced other legal troubles since his return
from Georgia.

Court records show the boy was detained in Genesee County
in November 2010 after he admitted to pushing his mother. Genesee Family Court
took jurisdiction over the boy in February and eventually placed him on
probation.

However, court records show that the boy violated his
probation May 1, 2012, when he admitted that he stopped regularly attending
school.

A March 8, 2012, letter submitted to the court by
Carman-Ainsworth High School administrators said that the boy, who was a
9th-grader at the school, had 26 absences and missed four days due to
suspension during the 2011-2012 school year.

The letter said that the boy's mother told school officials
that she could not get him to attend class regularly and that she supported the
district taking the issue to court.

Carte said she and the boy's family have not decided if
they would challenge the appeals court ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court. There
is no date set for the boy to be extradited to Georgia.